Pennyweight (dwt) Gold Calculator
Convert pennyweight (dwt) to grams and troy ounces, calculate fine gold content by karat, and see a melt value — built for US jewellers, gold buyers and refiners who weigh gold in dwt.
Pennyweight (dwt) Gold Calculator
UnavailableChecking the platform reference…Enter a weight in pennyweight (dwt) — or grams or troy ounces — and karat, to see the dwt/gram/troy-ounce conversion, the fine gold content, and its melt value.
In whichever unit you select — dwt by default
Checking the platform reference price… The dwt/gram/troy-ounce conversion and fine gold weight are still shown below — switch to Manual price to enter your own and see a melt value.
Enter a gross weight to see the dwt conversion, fine gold weight and melt value.
How this is calculated
1 pennyweight (dwt) = 1.55517384 grams, exactly 1/20 of a troy ounce (20 dwt = 1 troy ounce = 31.1034768 g) — not the everyday avoirdupois ounce used for most other goods. Every conversion here uses this exact factor, never a rounded approximation.
Fine gold weight = gross weight × purity fraction (14K = 14/24, and so on) — the same arithmetic every calculator on this platform uses. This needs no market data, so it is shown even when no reference price is available.
Melt value is the reference value of the gold content only — fine gold weight multiplied by a Gold price, either the platform's verified reference price or one you enter yourself. It is not a buyer offer, a retail price, or an appraisal.
What pennyweight (dwt) means
A pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass in the troy weight system, historically used for precious metals and still common today among US jewellers, gold buyers and refiners for weighing small quantities of gold. One dwt equals exactly 1.55517384 grams.
20 dwt = 1 troy ounce — not a regular ounce
Twenty pennyweight make exactly 1 troy ounce (31.1034768 grams) — the troy ounce being the international precious-metals trading unit. This is deliberately not the everyday avoirdupois ounce (28.3495 grams) used to weigh most other household goods in the US. Confusing the two overstates or understates a gold weight by roughly 10% — this calculator uses the troy definition throughout, and always says "troy ounce" explicitly rather than a bare "ounce."
Why US jewellers and gold buyers may use dwt
Many US jewellers, pawn shops, gold buyers and refiners weigh gold on scales marked in pennyweight rather than grams, a convention carried over from the historical troy weight system precious metals have long used. This platform does not claim that every US buyer uses dwt, or that dwt is more standard than grams — both are simply real, common units this calculator supports without forcing a conversion in your head first.
Purity-aware fine-gold calculation
A gross dwt weight is not the same as its fine gold content — a 14K item is only 14/24 fine gold by weight. This calculator applies the exact standard-karat fraction (10K, 14K, 18K, 22K or 24K) to your entered weight, the same purity engine every calculator on this platform shares, never a rounded approximation.
Worked example
10 dwt of 24K gold at a Gold price of $65 per gram: 10 dwt is fully fine at 24K (15.5517 grams fine), for a melt value of $1010.86.
The same 10 dwt at 14K instead: 5.8333 dwt fine (9.0718 grams fine), for a melt value of $589.67.
What this calculator does not do
It does not add tax, a making charge, or any dealer/refiner deduction, and it does not assume what any pawn shop, jeweller or refiner typically pays for gold weighed in dwt. Melt value here is a reference figure for the gold content only — not a buyer offer, a retail price, or an appraisal, each of which can differ from melt value for reasons this calculator does not assess.
Common US use cases
Reading a dwt-marked jeweller or pawn-shop scale and wanting the equivalent gram or troy-ounce figure; a refiner or gold buyer converting a dwt intake weight to a fine gold total; or a jewellery box weighed in dwt that needs comparing against a per-gram or per-troy-ounce Gold price. This tool does not make any claim about how a particular buyer prices gold in practice.